Shoe holding device for bootblack stands



July 31, 1934. F. T. RICHARDSON 1,968,785

SHOE HOLDING DEVICE FOR BOOTBLACK STANDS Filed 001;. 1a, 1953" 5 d QLZA@$.

Patented July 31, 1934 1,968,785 SHOE HOLDING DEVICE FOR BOOTBLAGKSTANDS Frederick T. Richardson, DesMoines, Iowa, assignor'to "H, B.Brock, Des MoinesJ'owa Application October 16, 1933, Serial No. 693,772

3 Claims. (CI. -26?) The object of my invention is to provide a shoeholder for bootblack stands of simple, durable and inexpensiveconstruction, and so constructed that it maybe readily, quickly andeasily applied 5 to and held permanently in position upon the heelportion of a bootblack stand, and may be adiiusted to fit stands ofvarious sizes and shapes;

Further it is my object to provide a device of m this character whichmay be readily and easily moved by a bootblack to position foryieldingly engaging the sole portion of a shoe upon the stand, and whenthus engaged will yieldingly hold the shoe against upward movement, andyield- [5 ingly hold it against lateral movement.

More specifically it is my object to provide a device of this characterin which the shoe holding arms may be readily and easily spreadlaterally by the bootblack and swung upwardly and downwardly by thebootblack so that they may be readily fitted to shoes of all ordinarywidths and lengths. In other words, one that is adapted to be instantlyfitted to shoes of all ordinary sizes.

5 1 A further object is to providea device of this character which willnot interfere with the ordinary operations of the bootblack in shiningshoes, either with a brush or a cloth. I

My invention consists in the construction, ar-

39 rangement and combination of the various parts of the device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully setforth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

5 Y Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a portion of a bootblack standwith my improvement applied thereto and in position holding a shoe readyto be shined.

Figure 2 shows a vertical, longitudinal, sectional view of my shoeholder; and

Figure 3 shows an inverted plan View of my device.

Referring to the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral10 to indicate gener- Ially the part of my device intended for clampingto a bootblack stand. The bootblack stand is indicated generally by thenumeral 11. This clamping portion 10 is preferably made of sheet metaladapted to fit over the top of the heel portion of a bootblack stand,and is provided at its forward end with downwardly extended lugs 12through which a bolt 13 may be passed under the heel portion of thestand for firmly fixing the device to a bootblack stand. 5 At the rearof the attaching member 10 are two downwardly extended lugs 14. Theselugs 14 are for pivotally supporting a body portion 15, which hasupwardly extended lugs 16 to co-operate with the lugs 14, and a'piv'otbar 17 isextended through the lugs 14 and 16, thus pivotally supportingthe body member 15 to the supporting member 10, and

for permitting the said body portion 15 to swing upwardly anddownwardly. i

For yieldingly holding the body portion 15 at 7 its downward limit ofmovement, I have provided 6%" a spring 18 fixed at one end to the undersurface of the supporting member 10, and then curved downwardly andforwardly over the forward end of the body 15.

The shoe clamping arms, of which there are 76 two, indicated by thenumeral 19, are pivoted to-- gether and crossed immediately above theforward end of the body, 15, to which they are connected by means of arivet 20 extending through a slot 21 in said body portion. These armsex- 75" tend forwardly under the bootblack stand to a point near theforward end of the bootblack stand, and each has at its forward end anup- Wardly extended shoe engaging finger 22, having at its upper end adepression 23 to grip over the 5 sole of a shoe. At their rear ends, theshoe gripping arms 19 are provided with pins 24 which extend downwardlythrough arcuate slots 25 in the body 15, and this pin and slotarrangement provides means by which the outward and inward movement ofthe shoe clamping arms 19 is equalized, so that each extends the samedistance laterally from the center of the bootblack stand to which thedevice is applied.

For the purpose of yieldingly holding the shoe gripping arms inwardlytoward each other, I have provided a spring 26 attached to the pins 24tending to move said pins to the inner ends of the slots 25.

In practical use it is obvious that the device 3 may be readily, quicklyand easily fixed to any ordinary bootblack stand by simply adjusting thebolt 13 to bring the lugs 12 into engagement with the side edges of-thebootblack stand. When a customer places his shoe upon the stand, thebootblack grasps the clamping arms 17 and separates them against theyielding pressure and also holds them upwardly against the yieldingpressure, and guides them to position where the flanges 23 of the shoegripping fingers 22 engage just over the top of the shoe sole. He thenreleases the shoe gripping arms, and obviously the customers shoe isyieldingly held downwardly against the shoe stand, and also againstlateral movement, and the customer then need pay no &

attention to the problem of holding his shoe firmly centered above thebootblack stand.

One of the desirable features of my invention is that the shoe grippingarms and all the rest of the apparatus is so positioned that it will notin any Way interfere with the normal operation of the shoe shining,except for that small portion of the sole which is covered by the shoegripping fingers, and when the shoe has been completely shined, thebootblack then removes the gripping fingers from the shoe and completesthe operation of applying blacking to that part of the sole covered bythe shoe gripping fingers.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a shoe clamp for bootblacl: stands, the combination of a bodyportion, means for pivotally supporting it in position under the footrest portion of a bootblacks stand for movement in a vertical plane, apair of shoe clamping arms pivoted to said body portion to swing in ahori- Zontal plane, and a yielding pressure device for normally holdingthe shoe engaging portion of said clamping arms toward each other.

2. In a shoe clamp for bootblack stands, the combination of a bodyportion, means for pivotal ly supporting it in position under the footrest portion of a bootblacks stand for movement in a vertical plane, apair of shoe clamping arms pivoted to said body portion to swing in ahorizontal plane, a yielding pressure device for normally holding theshoe engaging portion of said clamping arms toward each other, and meansfor yieldingly moving said body portion in a direction to apply downwardpressure to said shoe clamping arms.

3. A shoe clamp for bootblack stands, comprising a clamp comprising asupporting member designed to be applied to the heel portion of abootbblack stand and to project downward ly and rearwardly therefrom, abody portion pivoted to said supporting member to swing in a verticalplane, two shoe gripping arms pivoted to said body to swing laterally,said arms being shaped to project forward- 1y on opposite sides of abootblack stand and beneath the foot rest portion thereof, shoe grippmgfingers at the forward ends of said arms extended upwardly to such anextent that the said fingers may engage a shoe sole on the stand whensaid gripping arms are wholly below the foot rest portion of the stand,a spring for yieldingly holding said gripping arms toward each other,and a spring for normally holding said body portion in position formoving said arms downwardly.

FREDERICK T. RICHARDSON.

